How in the world do you schedule a Dr. appointment or an appointment to leave your car for 6 hours, when your husband is a chef and you have kids?
Not easily!
Now maybe it’s just me, but as a chef wife, I struggle with this.
Let’s be honest. There are some Dr. appointments I REALLY don’t want to go to with 3 kids. And these types of appointments can only be scheduled M-F and usually need to be scheduled weeks in advance. (more…)
I’ve asked it before, “Is the restaurant killing the chef?”
Ask any chef wife or significant other whose chef has been working in the kitchen for a while about their chef’s injuries and well . . . you better grab a cup of coffee and a chair because you might be there for a while.
Over the past 19 years we’ve dealt with cuts, burns, a broken back and torn ligaments, just to name a few.
Now it’s not totally fair to put all the blame on the career. When my chef/husband makes eating healthy and working out a priority, he can physically handle the job easier. However, when things get really busy as work, those are the things that tend to be pushed to the side. (This happens with many of us, not just chefs, right?)
However, no matter how good of shape you are in, sometimes injuries happen.
Right now, my chef/husband is sporting a lovely black cast on his left arm. (I would show you a picture, but decided to skip asking him if I could take one as I know he hates it when I take his picture. You can take a peek at it in this Facebook post from New Year’s Eve.) He’s left handed. He doesn’t have any broken bones, but has torn ligaments in his elbow from repetitive movements (chopping, working the sauté station, etc.) Even with the cast on, he’s in a lot of pain. (more…)
My chef/husband and I have had many conversations over the years about his salary. Usually the conversation starts because he’s been working so many hours and he’s on salary. (Sound familiar?)
He jokingly tells me how much he makes an hour, which comes out to be ridiculously low with the hours he works. He’s even said a few times that a server went home with more money than him after working 6 hours than he did after working 16 hours, running the entire restaurant and/or kitchen.
When he was a line cook, he occasionally got paid overtime. But as I have come to learn over the years, that overtime kills your labor budget and often the Sous Chef and Executive Chef work extra hours to pick up the slack to save their numbers (especially if those numbers are linked to a bonus.) (more…)
Time for myself? By myself? What’s that?
One thing I struggle with is finding time for myself and finding time to do the things I would like to do instead of just doing the things I have to do. I believe finding this balance is so important because if I’m a mess, how in the world can I take care of myself and my family.
Before we had kids, this wasn’t a problem. Yes, I worked full-time, but my chef/husband worked more (big surprise) so I always had time in the evening for hobbies (or to watch TV and do nothing).
If I wanted to spend time with friends or go out and do something, I could. No problem. (I might add that I could also afford it as we were both working full time.) (more…)
{This post contains affiliate links.}
Emulsion
[ih-MUHL-shuhn]
a mixture of one liquid with another with which it cannot normally combine smoothly (like oil and water); an atypical combination of two things
After a year of blogging on EmulsifiedFamily.com, I have come to love the name “Emulsified Family” and feel it’s the perfect way to describe our family (and probably many of yours.)
Why?
I’m so glad you asked!
Let’s start off by looking at it from a culinary perspective. Emulsifying is a delicate process. It needs to be carefully prepared. It requires ideal conditions (temperature, balance, interaction, etc). It won’t hold together forever unless it’s cared for, but can be repaired if it breaks.
Have you ever tried to make mayonnaise? If you just throw all the ingredients into the blender it’s not going to work. (Maybe it would work with a Vitamix. But in my Oster blender . . . no way!!) But if you take your time and carefully follow the correct procedure, you’ll get something that is far better than what you started with. All the ingredients on their own are fine. But together, they can be AMAZING.
Chef Wife, Mother of 3 and the Blogger behind EmulsifiedFamily.com.
